Sports Nutrition To Fuel Performance
Sports Nutrition to fuel your Performance
Are you ready to take your fitness and athletic performance to the next level? Whether you’re an athlete looking to gain a competitive edge, a fitness enthusiast striving for peak physical condition, or a coach eager to guide your team towards success, our Sports Nutrition course is your key to unlocking your true potential.
Nutrition is the foundation of athletic achievement, and with the right knowledge, you can optimise your diet to fuel your body, enhance recovery, and supercharge your performance.
Moving beyond the era of simply counting calories and macros, functional sports nutrition addresses dysfunctions, deficiencies and imbalances mainly through individually tailored adjustments to food and lifestyle. The aim is to achieve optimal health, function, body weight & composition, and performance using a personalised approach that supports the individual’s unique mix of goals, health and performance needs, circumstances and preferences.
As we see ‘one-size-fits-all’ rapidly giving way to more effective bespoke approaches in weight control and sports performance, this is the perfect time to update and enhance your understanding and practical skills.
Who is the course for?
- Sports & Fitness Enthusiasts
- Personal Trainers
- Nutrition & Health Coaches*
- Sports Coaches
- Bodybuilders
- Anyone looking to optimise their training and/or learn different approaches to fuelling their body for performance
*For those applying for CPD with UKIHCA: Please read the IINH Scope of Practice before taking the course so you are fully aware of your requirements as a health coach.
CPD Approved
This course is recognised for 30 CPD hours for UKIHCA members.
Approval provided by UKIHCA
Need more information? Speak with our admissions team, with no obligation, by clicking the links below.
- Irish Admissions Team
Next Course: Available Now
Course Length & Cost
Course content is accessible for 6 months.
Estimated 3-6 hours of study per unit.
Cost: €349
Delivery
Delivery is fully online:
- 7 pre-recorded lecture videos with accompanying notes and handouts
- All the course content in comprehensive downloadable handouts to keep
- Video recordings covering 3 real case studies discussed by Lyda with accompanying handouts
- Video interview on Metabolic Testing by Lyda with Seán Kinane from Health Matters
- Bonus material includes handouts on Labelling, Nutrition Myths, Farm to Fork and a fourth case study
- Recipe eBook ‘High Performance Recipes‘ by Maggie from IINH Taste Health Kitchen
- Discussion forum where your questions can be answered by Lyda while you have access to the course on Brightspace
Awards
IINH Certificate of Completion.
Enrol Now
Cost: €349
Sports Nutrition Sample Class
Try us out for FREE Sample Class. View a video recording and a smaple handout from the course content.
What does this course enable you to do?
This course is ideal for those who want the best results from their training whether it be aesthetic, performance, injury prevention and/or overall wellness. The cutting-edge information and practical skills training provided will enable anyone interested in sports and fitness to help themselves or their clients optimise the power of wholesome food and sensible hydration to achieve their weight/fat or performance goals and strengthen their health.
For personal trainers and coaches, completing this sports nutrition course will enable you to devise safe, effective and do-able personalised nutrition plans. Combining bespoke training for weight-loss/performance with a personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan vastly improves client outcomes and satisfaction. You will learn to ask clients the right questions, identify and address their unique key issues, create workable eating and lifestyle plans, and then guide and motivate them to success over the following weeks and months.
Sports Nutrition Course Outline
Each module will deliver key elements of nutrition and lifestyle coaching concepts in an easy to understand format. The main purpose of this course is to equip participants with sufficient knowledge, skills and practical tools to help themselves and their clients adopt safe, appropriate and effective personalised nutrition programmes to support successful weight/fat loss and sports performance – and make them stick!
Click the arrows below to see a full breakdown of each module.
What is protein?
- The amino acids
- Functions of protein
- Protein Digestion/turnover
- Amino Acid Metabolism
- Relevance of Protein in sport and exercise
- How much protein do we need?
- Exercise and Amino acid requirements for different populations
- Is too much protein harmful?
- Diet Considerations & Protein
- Is There an Optimal Diet for Human Health? Topics related to protein
What are carbohydrates?
- Simple vs Complex carbohydrates
- Fibre
- Functions of Carbohydrates
- Carbohydrate Digestion
- Carbohydrate Metabolism
- Insulin – the myth of the sugar rush
- Relevance of carbohydrate for sport & exercise
- Diet Considerations & Carbohydrates
- Is There an Optimal Diet for Human Health? Let’s look at carbohydrates
What are lipids?
- Function of fat
- Fatty Acids
- Essential Fatty Acids
- Triglycerides
- Cholesterol
- Declining oil quality – refined oils from seeds
- Dietary Fat Digestion (and absorption)
- Triglyceride metabolism
- Diet Considerations & Fat
- Low carb & ketogenic diets
Vitamins
- What are vitamins?
- Water soluble vitamins
- Fat soluble vitamins
- Is There an Optimal Diet for Human Health? Nutrient Considerations.
- Further Resources
Minerals
- What are minerals?
- The Macro-minerals
- The Micro-minerals
- Is There an Optimal Diet for Human Health?
- Further Resources
Phytonutrients
- What are phytonutrients?
- Free Radicals
- Antioxidants
- Is There an Optimal Diet for Human Health?
- Further Resources
Hydration & Electrolytes
- Estimating Hydration Needs
- What are electrolytes?
- How do I hydrate?
- Introduction to the digestive system
- Upper GI – Mouth, Pharynx, Oesophagus, Stomach
- Lower GI – Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Accessory Organs
- Control of the gut – Nervous system control of the gut, Hormonal control of the gut
- Gut flora/Microbiome
- Microbiota v Microbiome
- Functions of probiotic bacteria
- How we acquire bacteria
- Probiotics for the athlete
- Caution with supplements
Case Study 1
- Energy sources; Where do we get energy from?
- The cell
- Introduction to some biochemical concepts
- Energy, ATP & Chemical Reactions
- Acids & Bases
- Carbohydrate/Fat Metabolism – Let’s revisit
- Regulation of metabolism
- Hormones
- Allostatic Effectors
- Muscles – structure and function
- The Energy Systems
- Recap: where do we get energy from
- Regulation of metabolism – Impact of food and various organs
- Fast fed cycle
- Regulation of metabolism – Impact of exercise
- HIIT exercise
- Endurance exercise
- Energy Balance/Body composition
- Body weight change
Case Study 2
Labeling
- Decoding food labels
- What is the order of ingredients?
- Food additives
- Nutrition information labels
- Nutrition & health claims
- Getting the most from nutrition labels
- Food labelling terms
- Common nutrition claims & labels
Supplements
- Introduction
- Do you need to supplement?
- Important nutrients for athletes
- Multvits & Fish oils
- Protein powder
- It is good to take?
- How much to take?
- When to take?
- Greens & Probiotics
- More sport specific supplements
- Summary
- Bone support
- Sleep support
- Stress support
- Recovery support
- Why do we sleep
- Quality vs Quantity
- Sleep deprivation
- Coaching for good sleep
- Stress
- Stress Response
- Coaching to manage stress
- Recovery
- Fuelling for Sport
- Working with Clients
- Preparation
- Data Collection
- Interpreting client information
- Practical application & adjustment – creating a diet plan
- Goals
- Beginner or advanced
- Dieting strategies
Case Study 3
- Nutrition Myths
- Farm to Fork
- Case Study 4
- Recipe eBook
INTRODUCTION FROM LYDA BORGSTEIJN
Student Testimonials
Course Creators
Lyda Borgsteijn
Co-owner CrossFit Solas, Certified Nutritional Therapist, Coach and Speaker. Lyda specialises in paleo nutrition, blood sugar regulation, digestive health and energy balance and works with fitness enthusiasts and athletes on diet analysis, planning, implementing and monitoring specific nutrition programmes and supplement protocols tailored to their sport and individual needs. Current and past clients include triathletes, ironmen, indoor football players, rowers and CrossFit competitors.
Ian Madden
Ian has been coaching and competitively training in CrossFit for 11+ years. Having worked in four different CrossFit gyms in Ireland and Canada, he now heads up CrossFit Solas in Greystones. As a student of neuromuscular physical therapy, Ian’s interests have always centred around movement and functional fitness. Today, he works with clients of all ages and fitness as well as with larger corporate programs focused on health and wellbeing.
Sean Kinane
Sean is an experienced gym instructor, personal trainer, qualified Nutrition &
Health Coach and Nutritional Therapist. His company Health Matters specialises in fitness testing, performance enhancement and other health-related programmes. He will demonstrate metabolic Testing and VO 2 Testing. Sean also lectures on ITEC and ASCM fitness courses, delivers a Health and Fitness module with Solas and has developed a Schools Health Education and Awareness Programme, currently in operation in primary schools across Dublin.
